In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 10

The light is worse than the heat. The fire is not as intense as I'd feared and it disappears as fast as it shot out of the goblins hands. I didn't make it out unscathed but definitely less hurt than expected. My vision is blurry, making it really hard to aim but I swing out anyway. I hit something, hopefully the goblin. Risking retaliation, I rub my eyes quickly in hopes of combating some of the blindness. The goblin whispers something and motions with one hands fingertips over the other hands palm. I see a spark and lash out again. The club strikes true against its shoulder. Still standing it now looks around and starts taking steps backward. I take a long step towards it and go for a third strike. The goblins ducks down swiftly and starts crawling away on all fours. It's yelling and shouting now. Damn. I leap forward and bring the club down, it stops moving.

That one didn't really have anything on it, but I want magic now. I can't stop thinking about that. I wonder what kinds there are and how they work. Is all magic that weak or was it just that this goblin was bad at it? I know too little. However I do now know that it exists, I need to be a bit more careful. Also it's yelling must have drawn attention. Currently I am hiding in the bushes, not moving, taking in the surroundings and waiting for signs of life.

Almost right away several goblins come down the path towards where the magic goblin had been patrolling. I am starting to think that the thing it was doing was some sort of all-clear signal. These are the unlucky ones that have been sent to check what happened to it. There are four goblins spread out about the dead one now. They seem to be looking for tracks or any trace of who or what did in their friend. One of them suddenly looks in my immediate direction and throws something at me. There is the sound of shattering glass and a loud hiss as the tree next to me starts dissolving. I feel a stinging and burning sensation, a small splash of it go on my chest area and it burns badly. I have to double over for a moment because of the pain. I reach into my pouch and pull out the vial I took from the goblin that came to the hole. Luck seems to be on my side, the goblins have grouped up and are pointing an assortment of weapons in my direction. I chuck the vial towards the group of advancing goblins. It shatters against the face of the one that had thrown a vial of its own. The liquid splashes out all over the central goblin and some lands on the other standing next to it. The one who got hit starts dissolving right away and drops to the ground, dead, after mere seconds. It's head is completely gone. I almost feel like vomiting after witnessing that. 

The three remaining goblins keep their distance but do not let me go with their eyes. Are they waiting for reinforcements maybe? I have been feeling woozy ever since I got splashed by whatever that was earlier. I had initially thought it was some sort of poison but now I am thinking it's more likely acid. Fainting would not be ideal under the current circumstances. It's somewhat strange that I would feel dizzy and faint after taking a splash of fluid to my chest, could it be poisonous as well? Thinking back, I have always been struck by this sensation directly after taking a hit. Could there be some distinct damage threshold that puts me into this state? If that's the case I doubt that taking anymore hits would be safe. Sleeping is usually how I get rid of the sensation. Can't do that here and now though. I need to either escape or take them all out without getting hit. None of them seem to have anything that can hit me at a distance. They're all carrying rusty old knives, one of them also has a small wooden buckler on its arm. Is there anything around that I can throw at them to break their focus? I don't see anything of use at all. 

Skill [Observe] attained level 1

What's this now? Observation obviously, but how does it work? Looking at the goblins I get the gist of how it works right away. Just by looking at a goblin it feels like information flows into my brain. It's a level one goblin. They all are level one goblins. Level one and i am still struggling this much. I wonder what level I am? Doppelganger level zero. Excuse me, what do you mean by that? I am level zero, but how? I'll worry about that later, I still need to get out of this situation somehow. 

A stir among the goblins. They seem to be getting restless. Time for some poor improvisation. I grab my good knife and throw it towards the goblin to the left, the one furthest from the one with a shield. The goblin clutches its belly and falls down. I imagine that it'd still be standing if it wasn't for the splash of liquid it had been hit by earlier. If they are this fragile at level one, there's no wonder that I am also barely able to endure more than a few hits. Two goblins left now. I take a step closer, trying to win ground. The shield goblin stands in front of the other one. There's maybe fifteen feet between us now. Shield goblin takes a step towards me suddenly, the one who hid behind steps from the opposite side of it and lunges at me with the knife i had thrown at its friend. It misses me by an inch but now they have gone on the offensive, I need to do the same. I slam my club at the knife goblin, wood on wood as the shield is rushed in to block. The shield shatters to pieces but the goblins both seem unharmed. I want my knife back. Swinging again I aim for the one holding my knife, at the same time I step to the side to avoid retaliation from the one who had the shield. Again my foe falls before me. The club struck it in the side of its ribs, after a disturbingly rough gasp for breath it fell over and stopped moving. I grab my knife as I jump over the goblin. They seem more fragile than I, even though they are considered higher level. Only one left, and I can tell that it's been severely demoralized. My knife finished it off quickly and now I need to retreat before any more catch what's happened. I badly need to sleep. The adrenaline is fading and with it, my ability to function properly.